


Spaces Between Us

by justyrae



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Genderswap, Opposites Attract
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-26
Updated: 2015-05-26
Packaged: 2018-04-01 10:14:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4015912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justyrae/pseuds/justyrae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Liam doesn't exactly get along with his upstairs neighbor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Spaces Between Us

**Author's Note:**

> my sister made this really weird joke a couple weeks back about a cow and a goat being unlikely roommates because one wants to be an investment banker and the other a punk rocker and somehow my brain immediately thought of Lilo. I don't understand it either.

A loud bang startled Liam out of his deep sleep, making his heart pound within his chest as he panted for breath. He groaned in frustration when he heard the familiar stomps in the flat above his and he rolled over to see when he'd been woken up this time.

3:24 am. The middle of the fucking night by all accounts and he had to be up in two hours to get ready for work.

Liam groaned again as the stomping continued and he pulled one of his pillows over his head to drown out the noise. He'd tried earplugs before but found that he couldn't fall asleep with them in his ears because the feeling bothered him too much.

Unfortunately, there wasn't much else that Liam could do except live with the fact that his annoying upstairs neighbor didn't know how to quietly walk around the flat above his own.

The first time it happened during the first week he lived in the duplex, he thought it was a one-time thing. It happened on a Saturday night and Liam could forgive a bit of drunken stumbling at 3 in the morning. But when it happened again the following Tuesday, Liam realized he'd been gravely mistaken.

He tried leaving a note that politely asked not to make too much noise after a certain time, it didn't work. He was still woken up in the middle of the night and he later found his note pinned to his door, having been defaced with an incredibly accurate drawing of a dick.

For a second attempt, Liam had tried calling his landlord to lodge a formal complaint but only ever got a voicemail. After the third message with no return call, Liam gave up.

At the end of the first month, Liam was at the end of his rope. He was tired of being woken up at all hours of the night multiple times a week, and he was determined to make his upstairs neighbor cut it out.

One evening after work he marched up the stairs and knocked politely on the door, but no response came. He tried again, knowing for certain that his neighbor was home because he'd heard them stomping around earlier, but still nobody came to the door.

Finally his anger got the better of him and he started pounding on the door, stopping only when the door swung backwards and he was faced with the neighbor he had yet to even meet properly.

"I--" Liam stammered as he stared at the girl before him. She stared at him curiously, crossing her arms and leaning against the door while Liam tried to gather his thoughts.

The fact that she was wearing a shirt that barely reached her thighs and had more holes than fabric was doing nothing to help Liam become less flustered. He tried to keep his eyes fixed on her face, not letting them wander over the tattoos that disappeared under the worn neckline of her shirt.

"I live downstairs," he forced out and her face lit up with a grin that made Liam even more nervous.

"So you're the one who left the note," she said as she put her hands on her hips.

"Y-Yes." Liam cleared his throat. "That's why I came up, actually. You see, I've got to wake up very early for work, and you--"

"What do you do?" she asked, catching him off guard by interrupting.

"I... I'm an investment banker, but I don't--"

"Ooh, that sounds important. Is it important?" she asked with a wry chuckle. Liam furrowed his brow and gave her a confused look, entirely unsure how he'd managed to lose control of the conversation already. Normally he was very good at handling difficult situations.

"Y-Yes, I suppose it is. Look, the point is, you--"

"You handle people's money and shit, yeah?"

"That's..." Liam groaned, "yes, but you see--"

"What's your name?"

Liam sighed heavily. "Liam, but that's not--"

"I'm Louis," she said, still smirking at him. "D'you know what I do, Liam?"

"No..." Liam replied, even more confused of the turn the conversation had taken. This was not going how he'd imagined it, not at all.

"Well, you see, I tend bar at the pub down the street most nights," Louis paused, looking down at herself and picking a stray bit of fuzz off her shirt while Liam tried not to stare at her chest as he waited for her to continue, "and when I'm not doing that, I'm usually going to or playing gigs."

"Alright," Liam said with a sigh, "but I don't see what that has to do with--"

"S'funny, innit?" Louis grinned, distracting Liam with her sharp smile. "You help people save money and I help them spend it."

"I guess," Liam shook his head, "but that's really not why I came up here."

"No, you came up here to shout at me but instead all you've been doing is staring at my tits."

Liam flushed. "I am not!"

"Then why're you blushing?" Louis grinned wickedly. "Do my tits bother you?"

"I'm not--" Liam closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "This is not about your..." he dropped his voice, " _tits_. This is--"

"Oh my god," Louis interrupted with a cackle, "did you really-- oh, you're too precious, aren't you, Liam?"

"I just--"

"When's the last time you saw a pair of tits, anyway?" she asked, crossing her arms under her chest and making it increasingly hard for Liam's eyes not to be drawn there.

"That's none of your business," Liam snapped. "I came up here to ask you nicely to keep it down in the middle of the night because I have to get up early for work!"

"Why didn't you just say so?" Louis asked.

"Why..." Liam stared at her. "You didn't give me the chance!"

"Not my fault you were too busy staring at my tits."

"I was not!" Liam shouted, slightly hysterical. Louis laughed loudly and Liam glared at her before turning his back and doing his best not to stomp back down the stairs.

"Lovely to meet you!" Louis called after him, still laughing as she closed her door.

That night she came home at quarter after 4 in the morning, making far more noise than she ever had before. Liam pressed his face into his mattress with the pillow over his head and tried to think about anything other than Louis.

After that encounter, Liam couldn't get away from Louis. It seemed like every time he came home from work, she was out on the balcony above his flat. He'd never seen her out there before, but now it was as though she never left it.

It was nearly impossible for him to ignore her, given that she'd always call down to him as she leaned over the railing. He made the mistake of looking up at her once and was rewarded with a view up her skirt and several lewd comments before he was able to get into his flat and slam the door behind him.

Another few weeks went by before Louis knocked on Liam's door one Thursday night, taking him by surprise. He'd heard her coming down the stairs of course, but he never expected her to come to his door.

"What're you doing tonight?" she asked while giving him her sweetest smile.

It took a full minute for Liam to respond, mainly because he was too overwhelmed with the sight before him. Louis was wearing a black leather jacket over a ripped up white t-shirt and a skirt so form-fitting it left absolutely nothing to the imagination. He was snapped back into his senses when Louis kicked the toe of one of her combat boots into his shin, her smile turning into a smirk when he cried out in pain.

"I was planning on staying in, I made a roast yesterday and--"

"Is _that_ what that heavenly smell was?" Louis asked, pushing past Liam and running into his flat despite his objections.

"What're you-- Hey!" Liam quickly shut his front door before he ran after her, grabbing her by the wrist before she started picking at his supper.

"C'mon," she whimpered with a frown, "s'rude to invite someone in and not offer them food."

"I didn't invite you!"

"Yeah, but I'm here anyway, so." Louis grabbed a bit of roast with her free hand and popped it in her mouth, moaning obscenely as she chewed it. "Fuck, that's amazing."

"Thanks," Liam replied flatly, ignoring the flush in his cheeks and trying not to get aroused by the sounds Louis was making.

"Here," Louis said as she picked up another bit and fed it to Liam, smiling at him as she licked her fingers afterwards, "you should be very proud of that roast."

"I am," Liam answered once he'd swallowed the bit of roast Louis had fed him, just then realizing he was still holding onto her wrist. He quickly let go and cleared his throat, hoping he was being nonchalant when he asked, "why're you in my flat?"

"Oh," Louis laughed as she continued eating off Liam's plate, "I'm on my way to a gig and I've got an extra ticket."

"And?"

Louis rolled her eyes. "And I'm inviting you, numpty. You need to get out more."

"I get out plenty," Liam replied, even though it was a blatant lie. He couldn't remember the last time he'd properly been out, but he wasn't about to admit that to Louis.

"I'm sure," Louis drawled in monotone, "proper clubber, you are."

"I've got work tomorrow anyway, and hey!" Liam slapped her hand, "you're going to eat all of my supper!"

"Can't help it," Louis mumbled with her mouth full, "I'm a shit cook so it's mostly takeaway for me. Bet the last time I had a home-cooked meal was around the same time you last got laid."

Liam snatched his plate away from Louis and grabbed her arm, pulling her out of the kitchen and back towards the front door.

"Hit a nerve, did I?" Louis asked as Liam threw open the door and tried to push her out. "I'm sorry!"

"You are not," Liam snapped.

"I am! Promise!" Louis pouted. "If you come out with me, I'll do my best to get you laid."

"I don't need--"

"Not that you need it, of course," Louis interrupted as she wiggled her eyebrows. "But I have been told I'm an excellent wingwoman!"

"No, thank you," Liam said as he tried again to push her out the door.

"What is it, then? Afraid you can't keep up with me?"

"What?" Liam stopped trying to push Louis out the door and stared at her. "What d'you mean?"

"I bet you're scared of coming out with me," Louis said with a smirk, "of doing something new, or even worse, having _fun_!"

"I have _fun_ ," Liam muttered, frowning at Louis.

"But you're always here," Louis said with a sigh, "or at work! Just what _do_ you do for fun, Liam?"

Liam frowned harder, deep down knowing he didn't really have a response. Most nights he spent watching crap telly until he fell asleep, usually only to be woken up by Louis coming home a few hours later.

"Fine," he said a few minutes later, "I'll come."

"Brilliant!" Louis clapped eagerly. "Now, what've you got to wear?"

Before Liam quite knew what was happening, Louis was tearing apart his closet looking for what she considered to be a proper outfit.

"Try this," she said as she tossed a shirt at him, hitting Liam square in the face.

"Rude," he mumbled under his breath as he pulled off his long-sleeved shirt to try on the one she'd given him, only to be stopped by Louis suddenly appearing before him and wrapping her hands around his bicep.

"Holy shit," she said with awe, "Liam, are you fucking kidding me?"

"What?" he asked, giving her a confused look. He was constantly confused around her and he couldn't figure out if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Your _arms_ , Liam! They're enormous!"

"They're not," Liam mumbled in embarrassment. "Are you gonna let me try the shirt on or what?"

"You should just go shirtless," Louis replied, "plenty of blokes do."

"I'm not going shirtless," Liam answered as he pulled the shirt on over his head, positive he imagined the whimper that came from Louis as he did so. "Well?"

"That works," Louis replied with a sigh. "Still think shirtless is better."

"Shut up."

If Liam had been overwhelmed before, it was nothing compared to when he and Louis arrived at the club for the gig. He was relieved that Louis didn't let go of his arm as she made their way through the crowd because otherwise he surely would've been swallowed up and lost forever. At the same time, he was amazed that Louis seemed to know practically everyone they passed on their way to the bar.

In all honesty, he shouldn't have been surprised when she practically climbed across the bar to give the bartender a hug.

"Get your boots off my bar, Tommo!" He laughed heartily as Louis smacked a kiss against his cheek and ruffled his blonde hair.

"Tommo?" Liam questioned when Louis was back on her own two feet.

"Short for Tomlinson," she explained with a bright grin. "Niall, meet Liam! He lives in the flat below mine."

"Good to meet you," Niall said with a grin. "You're brave, living anywhere near this one."

Louis squawked. "Neil!"

"You're a bloody nightmare and you know it, Tommo!"

"I'm an absolute joy and Liam agrees with me, don't you?" She smiled brightly at Liam, who was far too confused to offer anything other than half a shrug in return.

"Jesus, wrapped around her finger already, are you?" Niall laughed again. "What'll you have?"

"I don't dr--"

"The usual, make it two!" Louis grinned brightly. "And keep them coming!"

"Got it!"

"Louis," Liam said in her ear, gently wrapping his hand around her arm, "I don't drink."

"You are tonight," she replied, "it's all part of the experience, Li."

Liam gave her an unconvinced look and continued to do so until Niall came back with the drinks and Louis held one out to Liam. After thirty seconds of him not moving and continuing to stare at her, she huffed loudly and pressed the glass into his hand.

"C'mon, loosen up a little, please?"

"One drink," Liam said, holding Louis' gaze. "Just one."

"Fine," Louis huffed as she clinked their glasses together. "Cheers!"

One drink turned into four, and soon Liam was in the middle of a crowd jumping up and down and shouting nonsensical lyrics to a song he'd never heard before. It didn't matter at all, especially not when he's catch Louis' eye and she'd look at him with a smile so wide and dazzling it made him a little weak in the knees. He wasn't sure when his brain made the switch from "annoying upstairs neighbor" to "a girl I might fancy", but he was certain there was no turning back now.

At the end of the last set of the night, Louis pulled Liam back to the bar insisting they have one more drink to finish off the night right. Liam didn't even try to refuse, too caught up in the way Louis refused to let go of his hand and the fluttery feeling in his chest that occurred whenever she looked at him.

Niall shook his head at the pair of them but poured one last round, this time two shots. Louis handed one to Liam and clinked their glasses together before tossing hers back, wincing at the taste and laughing when Liam did the same.

She immediately stopped laughing when Liam slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her close, catching her lips with his own in a kiss. Louis twisted her fingers in the fabric of Liam's shirt and kissed him back eagerly, groaning into his mouth when his fingers dug into her hips.

"Shit," she breathed out when they broke apart, panting harshly while remaining close in each other's arms.

"Can we--" Liam started, his eyes darting down to Louis' lips and back up to her eyes, hoping she understood what he wanted.

"Yours?" she asked with a hopeful smirk, leaning in to kiss Liam again after he nodded enthusiastically.

Getting out of the club took far longer than either of them wanted it to, though Louis did her best to distract Liam from noticing the wait. As soon as they'd left the bar - with a lewd send off from Niall that had made Liam's cheeks turn bright red - Louis wrapped Liam's arm around her waist and pressed herself into his side as she started pressing kisses against his neck. Every time the crowd came to a full stop around them Liam would turn his face towards hers and catch her lips in a kiss that made them both weak in the knees and even more desperate to get back to their building.

"Finally," Louis muttered when they emerged through the club's front door, quickly skipping to the head of the taxi queue and stealing the first one that pulled up. Liam tried to protest but Louis had such a firm grip on his arm that he was helpless to do anything than shoot a sorry look to the person whose taxi they'd stolen.

Of course, as soon as the door shut and their address given to the driver, Louis climbed into Liam's lap and made him forget all about feeling sorry.

With Louis in his lap, her hands roaming all over his chest and their lips insistently attached, it felt as though the trip home took no time at all. Liam whimpered softly when Louis pulled away, but quickly felt overwhelmingly embarrassed by the look their driver was giving him in the rearview mirror.

"Keep the change, love," Louis said with a smirk as she tossed a few bills through the window and quickly ushered Liam out of the car.

"Hey, what--" Liam started to protest as Louis shoved her hand into his pocket, but stopped when she pulled it back and jingled his keys around with a bright smile. She grabbed the back of his head to bring their lips together in a hard kiss before she playfully pushed him away and took off towards his front door.

Liam caught up to her just as she unlocked the door and pushed it open, and he wrapped his arms around her waist as she turned to meet him. Liam eagerly brought their lips back together and kissed her as they stumbled into his flat, barely managing to kick the door closed behind them. Louis dropped his keys on the floor and immediately began taking off her jacket and trying to kick off her boots while keeping her lips pressed against Liam's.

"Louis," Liam gasped out when her hands fell to his belt buckle, tugging on it roughly as she tried to loosen it. He caught her wrists and pulled her hands away despite her displeased groan.

"Fine," she muttered with a sigh, yanking her hands out of Liam's grip and quickly grabbing the hem of his shirt before tugging it upwards and getting it caught around his shoulders and head.

"Hey!" Liam grumbled, fighting with his shirt as Louis giggled in gleeful amusement. By the time he managed to get his shirt over his head, Louis was halfway towards his bedroom.

Her shirt was already off and the zipper of her skirt was pulled down enough that once she met his eye and let go of the waistband, it fell to the floor and left her in just her bra and knickers. She gave Liam a wicked smile and gestured for him to follow as she kept walking towards his bedroom.

Louis was sitting on the foot of his bed when he entered the room, but Liam became confused when he saw that she was frowning.

"What?" he asked.

"You've still got your jeans on," she replied with a huff as she got up, immediately going for his belt again. This time he didn't push her hands away and she smiled widely at him when she got it unbuckled, quickly unzipping his jeans and pushing them off his hips. "That's better," she mumbled softly as she slipped a finger underneath the waistband of his boxers and snapped it against his skin. Liam jumped and took a hold of her wrist to stop her from doing it again, making Louis grin devilishly at him as she went on her tiptoes to give him a kiss.

The next thing Liam knew, Louis was tugging him over to his bed and sitting him down in the same spot she'd been sitting before climbing into his lap. He moaned into her mouth as she pressed herself against him and he wrapped his arms around her, making her shiver when he ran his fingers up her spine.

Louis hummed appreciatively when he unhooked the clasp of her bra and slowly brought the straps down from her shoulders and over her arms. She laughed softly as Liam stared at her, slowly dragging his fingers across her collarbones and down to cup her breast.

"Your turn," she whispered as she slid off his lap and stood before him, looking at him expectantly with one hand on her hip. Liam kept staring at her, his mind too foggy to understand what she'd meant.

Louis rolled her eyes and tugged on the hem of his boxers until he got the point and lifted his hips so she could pull them off. He inhaled sharply when they got caught on the head of his hard cock, but when he looked up at Louis she had that same wicked smile on her face from before.

She didn't say a word as she dropped Liam's boxers on the floor, she just kept her eyes locked with Liam's as she slowly pulled her knickers off, dangling them from her fingers for a moment before she dropped them on the floor as well. Liam's breath caught in his throat as she climbed back into his lap, and they both groaned when she brushed against his cock.

"Louis…" Liam started, but Louis shushed him with a kiss.

"Let me take care of you," she whispered as she pushed him onto his back.

Liam groaned softly, closing his eyes as he kissed her and lost himself in the feeling of her against him.

*

Despite the amount of alcohol Liam had drunk the night before, he didn't feel overwhelmingly awful when he opened his eyes the following morning. Though at first, he didn't quite remember the events of the night before and was a little panicked when he woke up next to someone else in his bed. But when he glanced over at Louis who was still sound asleep, his worries disappeared and he couldn't help himself to lightly brush the hair away from her face and press a kiss to her temple.

As perfect as it was for that moment, everything went to Hell when Liam looked at the clock.

"Shit!" Liam immediately jumped out of bed and ran over to his closet to start getting ready for work, as he was already two hours late.

"What're you doing?" Liam turned around at the sound of Louis' sleepy voice to see that she was sitting up and rubbing her eyes, not bothering to cover her naked chest as he looked at her. "Come back to bed."

"I can't," Liam said in a panic, "I'm late, I've got to go to work!"

"No," Louis whined, crawling out from under the blankets and reaching out for him to try and pull him back onto the bed. Liam averted his eyes as best he could, suddenly too shy to look at Louis' body the way he had last night.

"Louis," he said with a sigh, "I've got to go, my alarm didn't go off and I'm late!"

"No, work is stupid and your alarm was stupid and loud so I turned it off," Louis replied with a pout, "now come get back in bed and--"

"You did what?" Liam said, pulling his arm out of Louis' grip.

"You looked so cute sleeping," Louis shrugged, "and you work too bloody much, everyone needs a day off, Liam."

"I have days off," Liam snapped, "and you had no right to do that!"

"What… you're angry because I shut off your alarm?" Louis scoffed.

"My job's actually important, and--"

"Excuse me?" Louis scoffed louder. "What, just because I'm not some posh banker I'm not worth anything?"

"I didn't say that," Liam groaned, "but--"

"But what?" Louis shook her head. "No, you know what? I don't care." She turned away from Liam and gathered up her bra and knickers from the floor as she grumbled, "I don't need this bullshit from someone like you."

"Louis," Liam protested, "I didn't--"

"Fuck you, Liam!" Louis shouted over her shoulder as she left the room with Liam at her heels. She pulled her skirt on, barely zipping it up halfway as she picked up her shirt, threw her jacket over herself and grabbed her boots as she headed for the front door while still ignoring Liam asking her to stop.

Louis slammed the door in his face and Liam listened to her run up the stairs and slam her own door, wincing when it echoed throughout his flat. He put his head in his hands and groaned, frustrated with himself for saying the wrong thing, angry with Louis for turning off his alarm, but most of all Liam was upset that she'd run off like that.

But he couldn't dwell on it, he had to get to work.

When Liam came home that night, later than usual after getting a strongly-worded warning from his boss regarding being on time, he was too exhausted to notice that Louis wasn't out on her balcony like she had been every day before. He instead went inside and headed directly to bed, not thinking about anything other than sleep until he laid down.

He'd been sure that he'd be asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, but when it did he caught a whiff of Louis' perfume on the second pillow. He shut his eyes tightly as he breathed in deeply, remembering all the awful things he'd accidentally said that morning.

On cue, booming music started playing in Louis' flat and Liam groaned as he rolled over onto his back. He stared at the ceiling as the music continued at a louder volume than Liam had ever heard it at before, knowing full well there was nothing he could do to make her stop. He pulled his own pillow out from under his head and rolled over to cover his ear, trying in vain to fall asleep despite the noise coming from Louis' flat and the nonstop whirlwind of thoughts in his mind.

Liam ended up getting very little sleep that night. Louis was relentless with her torment, so no sleep came to Liam the next night or the night after. After a week, the lack of sleep mixed with stress caught up with Liam and he came down with a particularly nasty cold.

Regardless, he dragged himself out of bed and into work, where he was immediately sent home after he had a sneezing attack in his supervisor's office.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," he kept repeating despite his supervisor swiftly shaking his head no.

"Absolutely not, go home, Payne. Get some rest."

Liam groaned; if there was one place he wasn't going to get any rest, it was at home.

Still, he did as he was told and went home. It took far longer than normal for him to actually unlock his door, not even having the energy to look up to see if Louis was on her balcony like he had every day before. After nearly falling flat on his face when the door swung open, he managed to shuffle inside and close the door behind him so he could collapse into his bed.

Whether due to the lack of loud music or his absolute exhaustion finally catching up with him, Liam fell right to sleep.

Unfortunately, he was woken up hours later in the middle of the night. He dragged himself out of bed and actually managed to leave his flat and make it up the stairs to Louis' front door, leaning heavily on the wall next to it as he tried knocking.

The door swung open, the music that had been muffled now so loud that it made Liam's head ache, but it wasn't Louis who answered.

"Yeah?" The girl standing before Liam gave him a suspicious look, clutching the door as if she was ready to slam it in his face any moment. "What d'you want?"

"Just--" Liam cleared his throat, sending him into a mild coughing fit, "keep it down? Please," he added with an exhausted sigh.

The girl narrowed her eyes at him, staring him down as he looked back at her with a tired expression. She tapped her fingers against the door quickly before she tucked her dark hair behind her ear and pointed at him.

"Liam, right? You live downstairs?"

"Yeah," Liam replied.

"I see," she said with a laugh, "I'll see what I can do."

She raised her eyebrows in a suggestive manner that went over Liam's head entirely before she shut the door in his face. Liam waited a beat before shuffling down the stairs, groaning under his breath when the music got a little louder.

"Dunno why I even bother," he mumbled once he was back in his bed with the covers pulled up all the way.

The next time Liam woke up it wasn't because of loud music, but rather because someone was pounding on his door. At first he thought he was still dreaming so he simply closed his eyes again and burrowed further into his pillow, but then the pounding started again so he reluctantly got out of bed to investigate.

By the time he made it to the door the pounding had stopped, and when he opened the door there was nobody on the other side. He looked down to see a tupperware container on his doorstep, and when he picked it up he realized it was full of soup. Still warm, even.

His stomach rumbled at the thought, and he laughed softly as he closed the door and went into his kitchen to eat it. As he sat at his kitchen table, he vaguely heard movement on the floor above him. It was strange that Louis wasn't stomping around like normal, but Liam wasn't going to question it.

He was just relieved that she wasn't blaring music at ten in the morning.

After finishing the soup, Liam retreated to his couch with the intent to watch some mindless television for a while. He was asleep within minutes.

Later that evening, Liam awoke to more pounding on his front door. He made it to his door faster this time, having still been on the couch, but he still didn't find anyone there. He did, however, hear Louis' door slam just as he looked down to see another tupperware container full of soup on his doorstep.

He bent down to pick it up and an idea popped into his head. He carefully closed his door behind him and climbed up the stairs, the container of soup still in his hands. It took a few minutes of knocking for Louis to answer her door, and she looked surprised for a moment to see him standing there before she schooled her face into an unimpressed expression.

"You've been leaving me soup," he said.

"Have not," Louis replied as she crossed her arms.

"Have so."

"Have _not_ ," Louis repeated with a huff. "Why would I? It's your own fault that you got sick. Working so much, you deserve it."

"Lou," Liam said softly, and Louis looked down at her feet.

"What?" she mumbled. "S'true. Made yourself sick."

"But you made me soup."

"Shut up," Louis huffed again, "my mum used to make me soup when I was sick so… I thought…" she trailed off and shrugged, and Liam smiled.

"Thank you," he replied, "I didn't think--" he paused to laugh, "I thought you hated me."

"Just because I made you soup doesn't mean I don't hate you," Louis scoffed, "you told me I didn't matter, don't you remember?"

Liam winced. "I didn't mean it. I'm sorry."

"You're just saying that because you're poorly and I made you soup."

"I mean it," Liam insisted, "I really am sorry. I overreacted."

"Fucking right you did." Louis looked up at him, her arms still crossed but the look in her eyes not nearly as cold as before. "Kicked me out of your bed and everything."

"I didn't--" Liam sighed. "You didn't have to leave."

"But you had to go to _work_ ," Louis sneered at the word and Liam frowned.

"You didn't have to go," Liam said, ducking his head to hide his eyes as he added, "you could've stayed in my bed."

"Is that right?" Liam's cheeks turned pink as he heard the amusement in Louis' voice and he shrugged his shoulders in response.

"I never told you to leave," he mumbled, "didn't want you to."

"So…" Louis said as she stepped forward, uncrossing her arms to take the tupperware out of Liam's hands and put it down on the ground, "you wouldn't object to me getting in your bed right now?"

"Well…" Liam swallowed harshly as Louis ran her fingers along the hem of his shirt, " _right now_ , yes." Louis frowned. "But only because I'm sick!"

"I don't care."

"I don't want to get you sick," Liam reasoned.

"I don't care," Louis repeated as she leaned forward and pressed her lips against Liam's neck.

"You will," Liam protested, unable to hold back a groan as Louis nipped at his neck, "and then we'll both be sick and what good would that do?"

"Fine," Louis sighed heavily, crossing her arms again as she pulled back, "but I'm kissing you as soon as you're better." She smiled widely at Liam, who smiled in return.

"Deal."

Louis bent down to pick up the tupperware again and stepped back into her flat, beckoning Liam in. "I've got more of this, if you're interested."

"You sure?" Liam frowned. "I don't want to get you sick."

"Dammit, Liam," Louis rolled her eyes, "get your arse in here or I'll drag you in myself."

"Alright, alright," Liam relented, crossing the threshold into Louis' flat, "but no kissing."

"Ugh, fine," Louis groaned, "I could always put my mouth to use somewhere else."

"Louis!"

"What?" She grinned devilishly and Liam rolled his eyes.

He had no idea what he was getting himself into but for the first time in his life, he liked the uncertainty.

 

**Author's Note:**

> [my tumblr](http://imlouisaf.tumblr.com)


End file.
